Artificial hair and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

An improved artificial hair for use in wigs and the like comprising a multiplicity of synthetic fibrous yarns each formed with a plurality of small waves having various sizes and extending in various directions is provided. The waves formed on such fibers permit the hair to be shaped in a plurality of different styles. The invention also provides a method for manufacturing such artificial hair, which includes the steps of forming and treating the synthetic fibrous yarns to create the small waves thereon.

Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,910,291 Kim 1451' Oct. 7, 1975 [5 1ARTIFICIAL HAIR AND METHOD FOR 2,531,685 11/1950 Jacoby 132/5MANUFACTURING THE SAME [76] Inventor: Nak Yang Kim, 19, 197 Eung AmPrimary Examiner-G. E. McNeill Dong, Seo Dae Mun Gu, Seoul, Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Lawrence S. Lawrence South Korea, 120-03 [22] Filed:Sept. 28, 1973 Appl. No.: 401,573

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 2, 1972 South Korea .1 72-1487US. Cl 132/53; 132/5 [51] A41G 3/00 [58] Field of Search 132/53, 54, 5,7

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 258,662 5/1882 McCarthy132/5 [57] ABSTRACT An improved artificial hair for use in wigs and thelike comprising a multiplicity of synthetic fibrous yarns each formedwith a plurality of small waves having various sizes and extending invarious directions is provided. The waves formed on such fibers permitthe hair to be shaped in a plurality of different styles. The inventionalso provides a method for manufacturing such artificial hair, whichincludes the steps of forming and treating the synthetic fibrous yarnsto create the small waves thereon.

2 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent 0a. 7,1975 Sheet 2 of43,910,291

Sheet 3 of4 a \Q mm US. Patent Oct. 7,1975

US. Patent 0a. 7,1975 Sheet4 0f4 3,910,291

ARTIFICIAL HAIR AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME BACKGROUND oF THEINVENTION.

It has been common to manufacture artificial hair from synthetic fibrousyarns which have a smooth uncrimped texture. Such yarns are cut intodefinite lengths according to the length of the artificial hair de siredand then stitched together in the middle or at the end thereof. Thestitched hair section is then wound on a tubular member to form a waveor curl therein, and then heat set into such shape, thus formingrelatively permanent curls. A plurality of such curled sections are thenfastened to a head cap or the like so as to form a complete wig in whichthe hairs have been preset with permanent curls. Unfortunately, suchartificial hair sections and wigs comprising the same can not be easilyrestyled to redevelop the curls in the opposite direction of theiroriginal winding because of the heat setting of the fibers. Furthermore,the individual fibers are usually held in place by three or morestitches, so that such fibers are radially fixed to the head cap and therotation thereof to establish restyling is also impossible. Accordingly,to restyle or recurl such prior artificial hairs and wigs, further heatsetting of the fibers was required. This, of course, can result indamage to the hair and to the wigs produced from such hair, and, inaddition, can

not be easily accomplished by the average consumer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

.In accordance with the present invention artificial hair is providedwhich overcomes the styling difficulties associated with priorartificial hair by permitting the altering and restyling of curls formedtherein without the necessity for rotating the synthetic fibers andwithout the need for heat setting tore-establish the curl direction.This is accomplished by the use of synthetic fibrous yarns each formedwith a plurality of small waves having various sizes and extending inseveral directions. Such waves permit the bending or turning of eachfiber in the direction of any one of said waves and thereby permit therestyling and reformation of all or any portion of the hairs whichcomprise a wig or other hair piece. The -waves.,on each fiber alsofacilitate the bundling of groups of such fibers by partiallyintertwining the same, thus holding a desiredhair style in "place.

In general, the artificial hair of the invention comprises amultiplicity of synthetic fibrous yarns stitched together along amidpoint and/or one end thereof, and each having a plurality of smallwaves of various sizes nate the build up of static electricity forming:one or more bundles of such fibrous yarns into a braid or ropelikepattern; heat setting the formed fibrous bundles;

' untwisting the bundles of said formed yarn fibers; and

retreating the same with a chemical hair conditioner. Each of the fibersso formed and treated contain a plu- :rality of small waves of differingsizes and extending in several radial directions about the central axisof such fiber. It has been found that the best results in restyling andbundling of fibers is obtained when the number of waves formed on eachfiber ranges from about 5 to 30 waves per inch. The number of waves canbe adjusted by first winding the fibrous bundles tightly to form morethan the desired number of waves and then stretching the formed fibersafter heat setting to reduce the' number of waves per inch. The fibersare then cut to the desired hair length, stitched together to form hairsections and finally attached to a head cap or another substrate to forma wig or other hair piece.

Several different types of synthetic fibrous materials can be used tomake the artificial hair of the invention and these materials includemodacrylic copolymers consisting of 56 to 60 percent polyvinyl chlorideand 40 to 44 percent acrylonitrile, which are commonly known as Dynel,Elura, Kanekalon and Torylon. Additional] synthetic fibers known asVencelon, Terilon, Toyokalon, Cordelan, Mila and others well known inthe art are also suitable to produce the artificial hair of theinvention.

The method of manufacturing the artificial hair of the invention may becarried out in any one of several different manners, but in each caseseveral basic steps, common to each, are required. These include cuttinga suitable number of fibrous strands into a length of about 40 to 60inches; bunching a multiplicity of such strands into at least two, butpreferably 3 to 5 bundles; and treating the fibrous bundles with a 3percent water soluble solution of wig oil in water at a temperature ofabout 40 to 50C to prevent the accumulation of static electricity uponthe surface of the fibers and to render the fibersv more lustrous andnatural looking. The treated fibrous bundles are then tightly wound bymeans of a rope twisting apparatus into a rope-like twine, oralternatively braided in a conventional manner; the purpose of eitheroperation being to form the desired waves in each fiber. The twined orbraided fibrous bundles are then subjected to an elevated temperature ofabout 60 to C for a period of about 20 to- 60 minutes and is then cooledto room temperature, thus heat setting the wave forms on each fiber.

The artificial hair of the invention and method of manufacturing thesameare more fully explained with reference to the annexed drawings.

) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the steps required to produce asection of artificial hair.

FIG. 2a is a plan view showing the wave formation on a single strand ofthe artificial hair of the invention.

FIG. 2b is a front elevation of the strand shown in FIG. 2a.

FIG. 20 is a side elevation of the strand shown in FIG. 2a.

FIG. 3a is' a plan view showing the availability of movement of thefibrous hair'formed in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 3b is a front elevation of the hair shown in Figure 3a.

FIG. 4a is a plan view of a bundle of artificial hairs formed inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 4b'is a front elevation of the view of the artificial hairs hown inFIG.-4a.-.

FIG. is a side view of a wig formed from the artificial hair of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one section of artificial hair from thewig shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the preferred steps of themanufacturing method of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing alternative steps of themanufacturing method of the invention.

FIG. 9a is a plan view of a strand of the fibrous yarn processed inaccordance with the method of the invention.

FIG. 9b is a front elevation of the fibrous strand shown in FIG. 9a.

FIG. 90 is a side elevation of the fibrous strand shown in FIG. 9a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the various steps required to form lengths ofconventional artificial hair or artificial hair in accordance with theinvention into a stitched and curled hair section is shown. Firstly, aplurality of synthetic fibrous yarns l are cut into any desired length,depending upon the particular hair piece to be formed therefrom. Thelengths of hair 1 are then stitched with suitable thread along the lines2 and 3 at a midpoint thereof. After stitching, the hair 1 is foldedalong a line central of stitches 2 and 3 to form a long strand 4 and ashorter strand 5, together with a loop 6. Finally loop 6 is folded inhalf and a third series of stitches 7 is provided to secure the fold inplace, thereby forming a completed hair section 8.

Hair section 8 is then wound on a cylindrical member 9 having a diametercorresponding to the size of any desired curl 9a to be formed therein.The hair section is then cured at an elevated temperature ranging fromabout 60 to 180C for about a period of about 20 to 60 minutes and thencooled completely to set curl 9a in place. An array of such hairsections are then fastened to a head cap 10 to form a wig or any otherdesired hair piece, such as the wig shown in FIG. 6.

A hair section formed in accordance with the steps shown schematicallyin FIG. 1, and comprising artificial hair strands 14 having small waveforms thereon in accordance with the invention is illustrated in FIG. 5and is designated 11. Wig 12 shown in FIG. 6 comprises a plurality ofsuch hair sections 11, the fibrous strands 14 of which are shown inFIGS. 2a to 2c, wherein it can be seen that the plurality of small waves15 formed on the strands are of varying size and extend in severaldirections. As noted hereinabove the wave formations on each fiberfacilitate the restyling of wig 12 by permitting the bending, twistingor curling of each strand about any of the small wave formations 15 andby enhancing the bundling or intertwining of adjacent fibers due to theincreased number of cross over points to hold the artificial hair in thedesired position. This is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. It can be seenthat, although the hair sections 11 have curls 16 (as shown in FIG. 5)initially set in a definite direction, such direction and the pattern ofsuch curls may be easily altered by the wearer of the wig merely bycombing the hair in any desired style.

In FIGS. 3:! and 3b, fiber strands 17, l8, l9 and formed with smallwaves 15 in accordance with the invention are stitched together at oneend. The position occupied by strand 17 represents the initial set inwhich all of the fibers are placed, while strands 18, 19 and 20 occupyalternate positions into which any of the strands can be placed.Similarly, FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate bundles of fiber strands 21, 22,23 and 24 stitched together and placed in alternate styling positions.It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that when the syntheticfibrous yarns of the invention which are curled in a definite directionare bundled, it is rather easy to alter the direction of such curls intooptional directions because of the non-linearity of the fibers hav-' inguneven waves. Moreover, the preservation of a curl in any desiredaltered direction is maintained very firmly, because of the bundlingcharacteristics of the fibers.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate two alternative procedures for implementing themethod of manufacturing the artificial hair of the invention. In theprocedure of FIG. 7, extended lengths of synthetic fibrous yarn 33 aregrouped together in four bundles 25, 26, 27 and 28. The bundles are thentreated with a solution of 3 percent water soluble wig oil in water at aslightly elevated temperature of about 40 to 50C by spraying the samevia nozzle 29 connected to a suitable reservoir of the solution. The oilcoats the fibers and thereby eliminates static electricity which tendsto build up in the fiber bundles. In addition the wig oil protects thefibers and improves their natural hair appearance. It is preferable thatafter such spraying, the moisture content of each of the fibrous yarnbundles be about 50 percent. It should be noted that the term wig oil"as used herein refers to various oils recommended by the fibermanufacturers for the purpose of reducing or eliminating static electricbuild-up. Specific designations of such de-electrification oil is knownto those skilled in the art.

The treated fibrous bundles 25 to 28 are then conveyed through aconventional rope making machine 30, which twists the bundles of fibersinto a rope-like configuration 31. It can be seen that the twisting ofthe fibers into the rope like configuration 31 causes the individualstrands which comprise each bundle to be formed with a series of wavesor crimps thereon extending along their entire length. The number andsize of such waves formed on each fiber in a unit length thereof isdetermined by the number of fibrous bundles used in the rope twistingoperation and the quantity of synthetic fibrous strands in each bundle,as well as the number of turns per unit length of the rope. Accordingly,the number of waves in a unit length of fibrous strand of artificialhair is inversely proportional to the number of bundles passed throughthe rope making apparatus 30 and the quantity of fibrous strands perbundle. In addition, the number of waves is also directly proportionalto the number of turns per unit length of rope. Consequently, the amountof waves in a unit length of fiber can be altered by adjusting thenumber of bundles utilized, the number of fibers per bundle and thenumber of turns per inch produced by the rope making apparatus.Moreover, it should be noted that the number of waves formed on a unitlength of fibrous yarn is inversely proportional to the size of suchwaves, so that the less the number of waves in a definite length offibrous yarns, the larger the size of such waves. The direction of thewave can also be set, depending upon the particular method of twistingthe bundle into the rope-like configuration. such as an S" twist, a 2"twist or a combination thereof.

It should also be noted that the waves formed on each fibrous strand ofthe artificial hair of the invention, as well as permitting thealteration of hair style, also affects the texture of the hair which inand of itself creates varying styles. For example, utilizing the methodof the invention the artificial hair can be made either slightly waveyor extremely kinky, as well as varying degrees of waviness therebetween.In each instance, the number of waves and the size of such waves formedin each strand of artificial hair can be adjusted as specified above.However, in most instances to accomplish the desired styling effect, thenumber of waves formed in each fibrous strand should be between five andthirty waves per inch.

After twisting, the rope 31 is conveyed through a dryer 32 by means ofsuitable rollers 34. In the oven the twisted rope is heat set at atemperature ranging from about 60 to 180C for a period of about to 60minutes, thus fixing the waves on the individual fibers in the positionobtained by twisting the bundles into the rope pattern. The rope is thencooled and fed via pinch rollers 35 through a second rope-making machine36, arranged in a manner opposite that of rope-making machine 30, so asto untwist bundles 25, 26, 27 and 28. The individual bundles are thenconveyed via pinch rollers 37, 38, 39 and 40, respectively, to insurecomplete untwisting and separation of such bundles.

At this point in the procedure each individual fiber appears shown inFIG. 9a through 90, that is with a plurality of waves 41 formed thereonin a diverse pattern and direction. When such fibers are placed togetherin bundles to form a wig, they create a relatively larger volume and areeasily entangled, which can be seen in the side elevation view of FIG.9c. If the fibrous yarn bundles are larger in volume, it is extremelydifficult to accomplish the stitching and curling steps illustrated inFIG. 1. To overcome these difficulties it is desirable to stretch orelongate the fibrous bundles.

In the procedure illustrated in FIG. 7 such elongation is accomplishedby utilizing two pairs of power driven rollers 42 and 43, which arearranged such that the speed of rollers 43 is slightly greater than thespeed of rollers 42. Each of the untwisted fibrous bundles 25, 26, 27and 28 are combined into a single bundle 44 and fed simultaneouslythrough rollers 42 and 43. Since the speed of rollers 43 is greater thanthe speed of rollers 42, it is apparent that the individual fiberscomprising 44 will be stretched between the two pair of rollers.

To prevent the further build-up of static electricity within the fibersof bundle 44 a second spray nozzle 45 is disposed above the spacebetween rollers 42 and 43. As in the case of nozzle 29, nozzle 45 isconnected to a reservoir containing a 3 percent solution of watersoluable wig oil in water at a temperature of about to 50C and isadapted to spray such solution on bundle 44 as it passes beneath. Aftersuch treatment bundle 44 is conveyed via rollers 47 through a seconddrying and curing oven 44 in which the fibers comprising the bundle areonce again heat set at a temperature ranging from about 60 to 180C for aperiod of 20 to 60 minutes to fix the waves in an elongated position oneach fiber. After such heat setting, the fibrous bundle is cooled andwound on a storage reel 48.

The individual fibers comprising bundle 44 after elongation, treatmentwith wig oil, drying and cooling appears as that shown in FIGS. 20 to 20and is described hereinabove. It can be seen that such fiber has a lowerwave height and a reduced number of waves than the fiber shown in FIGS.9a to 9c. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thevolume of a bundle of fibers of the type shown in FIGS. 2a to 20 will beconsiderably less than the volume of a bundle of fibers of the typeshown in FIGS. 9a to 90. In this manner, a natural looking wig or otherhair piece can be formed which can be easily restyled by the user.

The alternative procedure for carrying out the method of the inventionis illustrated in the schematic of FIG. 8. In this instance amultiplicity of synthetic fbrous strands are cut into lengths of about40 to 60 inches, are grouped together in three bundles 49, 50 and 51 andthen subjected to a treatment of a water solution of wig oil by means ofnozzle 52. The treated bundles are then formed into a braid-likeconfiguration 53, which can be accomplished either manually or throughthe use of suitable braiding apparatus, which are well known in the art.The braided bundle 53 is then heat set in a drying oven 54 in the samemanner as that described with reference to the procedure shown in FIG.7, and then untwisted into its original bundles 49, 50 and 51. Suchbundles are then bunched together in a single bundle 55 and treated onceagain with a solution of wig oil by means of the nozzle 56. The fibrousbundle 55 is then wound on a spiral type member 57 to accomplish thenecessary elongation of the individual fibers which comprise the bundle,so as to reduce the volume of the final fibrous bundle and createindividual fibers, as shown in FIGS. 20 through 20. In the procedure ofFIG. 7, the degree of elongation of the fibrous bundle was determined bythe speed of the roller pairs 42 and 43. In the procedure of FIG. 8, thedegree of elongation is adjusted by the strength of the winding on thespiral type member 57. After elongation, the fibrous bundle is onceagain heat set in the manner described or with reference to FIG. 7 in adrying oven 58. A fibrous bundle 59, the fibers of which are as shown inFIGS. 2a through 20 is obtained after cooling. The fibers produced bythe procedures outlined with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 are then cut andstitched as shown and described, with reference to FIG. 1 to produce awig or other hair piece of any desired size, shape and configuration.

Although the artificial hair and the method for manufacturing the sameof the present invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments and configurations, other configurations and embodimentswithin the scope of this invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art.

What is claimed is:

1. Improved artificial hair for use in wigs and the like comprising amultiplicity of synthetic fibers bundled together, each of said fibershaving a plurality of waves of various sizes formed therein ranging innumber from about 5 to about 30 waves per inch and extending in variousdirections, said waves being adapted to facilitate the curling andstyling of the hair by bending the fibers in any desired shape ordirection along the longitudinal axis of the waves.

2. An artificial hair wig comprising a series of bundles having amultiplicity of synthetic fibrous strands stitched together, each ofsaid strands having a plurality of waves of various sizes extending invarious directions formed therein and ranging in number from about 5 toabout 30 waves per inch, to facilitate the curling of the artificialhair into any desired style by bending the fibrous strands along thelongitudinal axis of any of said waves.

1. Improved artificial hair for use in wigs and the like comprising amultiplicity of synthetic fibers bundled together, each of said fibershaving a plurality of waves of various sizes formed therein ranging innumber from about 5 to about 30 waves per inch and extending in variousdirections, said waves being adapted to facilitate the curling andstyling of the hair by bending the fibers in any desired shape ordirection along the longitudinal axis of the waves.
 2. An artificialhair wig comprising a series of bundles having a multiplicity ofsynthetic fibrous strands stitched together, each of said strands havinga plurality of waves of various sizes extending in various directionsformed therein and ranging in number from about 5 to about 30 waves perinch, to facilitate the curling of the artificial hair into any desiredstyle by bending the fibrous strands along the longitudinal axis of anyof said waves.